Tuesday, July 12, 2016

An Open Letter To Vice President Biden

Mr. Vice President, now is the time for you to

exercise one of your important duties.

vice.president@whitehouse.gov

Dear Mr.
Vice President,

The BrennanCenter for Justice at the New York University School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy
institute that seeks to improve our systems of democracy and justice, has indicated that “Although often overlooked, one of the duties of the vice president
is to act as president of the Senate, including issuing advisory opinions about
internal Senate procedure.”1

I am writing to you to remind
that you are in a very unique position at a critical point in our nation’s history
to issue an historic Advisory Opinion on internal Senate procedures that could
be a highlight of your legacy and a manifesto to challenge and guide the future
operations of the United States Senate.

First of
all, as President of the U.S. Senate you are in the foremost position to issue
such a manifesto. Secondly, your 36 year career as an active U.S. Senator,
combined with nearly 8 years as Vice President and Senate President, has given
you a perspective unmatched by any individual. Thirdly, your apparent
retirement from elected office, gives you a credibility and neutrality which is
necessary to speak on a controversial issue that demands bipartisanship, yet
defies resolution because of its powerful political scope that benefits both
major political parties. Finally, as the Obama Administration draws to a close
and a new Presidency has yet to be decided, and a new Congressional session
looms, the timing could not be better to set the stage for a new era Senatorial
reform.

As you and
all Washington, DC insiders know well, certain Senate
procedures and rules are a major contributor to governmental gridlock and
dysfunction. The excessive increase in the so-called “silent filibuster”; the
arcane procedure known as a Senatorial “hold”; and the ability of Senate
Leadership and Committee Chairs to ignore Constitutionally-mandated functions (advise
and consent) because there are no specified procedural time limits (e.g.
Supreme Court appointment), are a few examples of rules and procedures that demand
changes.

Some will
argue that such changes require a two-thirds vote of the Senate, but that
argument has been dispelled by both Republicans and Democrats.

Again,
citing the BrennanCenter, “The Constitution nowhere requires a two-thirds vote for changing
Senate rules and does not even mention filibusters. The Constitution states
that ‘each house may determine the rules of its proceedings,’ and the document
requires a two-thirds vote only for impeachments, expelling a member, ratifying
treaties, overriding presidential vetoes, and proposing constitutional
amendments. There is simply no reason to believe that the framers of the
Constitution thought a two-thirds vote could be required for the Senate (or the
House) to change its rules. The straightforward inference is that, as a
constitutional matter, only a simple majority is required.”2

Without going into the details of these extremeextra-parliamentary
practices that both parties have self-imposed on House & Senate procedures,
it is these very practices that have led, in large part, to the current
dysfunctional government and the increasing public unrest.

It is my opinion that if you dig deep into the search for
solutions you can find it in the simple concept of "majority rule."
For the last several decades inside political manipulation by both parties has
undermined this basic concept, and as a result given rise to a devilish concept
of "minority rule." This nightmarish concept defies compromise and
feeds on government stagnation, obstruction and inaction on increasingly
perplexing problems and issues that demand action -- that's why the public is
mad – that’s why they have lost their trust and respect for government.

Not only
do these practices grind decision making to a standstill, but they allow for
increased leverage for lobbyists and moneyed influences. These practices are
the "demons of democracy" and have led to the public’s perception
that Congress is basically useless as a governing body – e.g. approval ratings
less than 10%.

As Thomas
Jefferson pointed out way back in 1809, "Where the law of the majority
ceases to be acknowledged, there government ends, the law of the strongest
takes its place, and life and property are his who can take them." He also
said, "All... being
equally free, no one has a right to say what shall be law for the others. Our
way is to put these questions to the vote, and to consider that as law for
which the majority votes."3

The “demons of democracy” have
so distorted the democratic process envisioned by the Founders and the Constitution,
as to make it unrecognizable. No elected President (Democrat, Republican or
Independent) can achieve their stated or envisioned goals for the country
because of these constraints. The result is that the majority public and
winning candidate are denied any opportunity to see their vision actually
implemented.

We must
have trust in the majority rule system as it may not always deliver the results
that we, as an individual, envision; however, if decisions are really bad, the
majority corrects itself by changing direction. The founders and our
Constitution were based on the concept of majority rule and we have now drifted
away from that cornerstone.

Mr. Vice
President, your leadership on this vital issue at this critical time can help
turn the tide of what is becoming a dangerous decline in the public’s belief in
our democratic form of government and our political leaders from both major
parties.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

(comment in response to Jonathan Rauch's article published in The Atlantic, July/August, 2016 issue -- "How American Politics Went Insane")This is an excellent article that focuses on many of the
underlying reasons that have led to the sad state of our current dysfunctional
government and the increasing public unrest. It is my opinion that if you dig
deep into the search for solutions you can find it in the simple concept of
"majority rule." For the last several decades inside political manipulation by
both parties has undermined this basic concept, and as a result given rise to a
devilish concept of "minority rule." This nightmarish concept defies compromise
and feeds on government stagnation, obstruction and inaction on increasingly
perplexing problems and issues that demand action -- that's why the public is
mad.

The deep-rooted underpinnings of this increased
dysfunction are Congressional rules and procedures all designed to frustrate the
concept of majority rule -- abuses of the filibuster process in the Senate
(silent filibuster & extensive use); senatorial holds; the “Hastert rule” in
the House; riders & unrelated amendments, etc. Not only do they grind
decision making to a standstill, but they allow for increased leverage for
lobbyists and moneyed influences.

These are the "demons of democracy" that, as this article
indicates have led to, "the general public’s reflexive, unreasoning hostility to
politicians and the process of politics. Neurotic hatred of the political class.
. ." As Thomas Jefferson pointed out way back in 1809,
"Where the law of the majority ceases to be acknowledged, there government ends,
the law of the strongest takes its place, and life and property are his who can
take them."

But, solutions are at hand. I agree with the article which
indicates, "Restoring the earmarks that help grease legislative success requires
nothing more than a change in congressional rules. . ." This is true and every
Washington politician and political insider knows it. Yet reforms to correct the
process are few and far between because both parties use the "demons" to their
advantage to manipulate political outcomes.

The public, the media, political reformers and the few
remaining "statesmen" in Congress must focus their efforts like a laser beam on
the "demons" and press for changes to restore majority rule. As I point out in
one of my blog posts, you have to trust the majority rule system as it may not
always deliver the results that you want -- if decisions are really bad, the
majority corrects itself by changing direction -- if you can't live with
majority rule then you should probably seek another alternative, somewhere
else.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

H.R.2578 is a good example
of legislative and political manipulation designed to confuse the public and
hide important issue votes -- the practice of adding unrelated amendments,
indirectly related and riders to bills under consideration. It is a ploy
designed to deceive the public, sneak through legislation and make it difficult
to hold legislators accountable. You can see here on the 4US.com website, the
important significance of some of the amendments to this bill that were
considered and voted on are not revealed and you cannot tell how your
Members voted. Unrelated amendments are a significant contributor to
Congressional gridlock and broken government and should be eliminated.

The primary purpose of this
bill was to provide appropriations to the Department of Commerce, the
Department of Justice (DOJ), science agencies, and several related agencies.
Yet four, highly controversial amendments relating to gun regulations were
offered and defeated in separate and very close votes.